I just discovered the existence of book subscription boxes a few months ago. And I love the idea. I mean, send me ALL THE BOOK SUBSCRIPTION BOXES. I think they’re so much fun.
It varies by company, but usually each month’s box contains a book, as well as other treats to fit that month’s theme, like wearables, gifts, housewares, and snacks.
I’ve decided to try out most of the boxes and see which I like most.
So… this is what came in the June 2017 LitCube box!
Box: LitCube
Cost: $34.95, free shipping (Which is awesome: there are additional shipping charges for almost all other book boxes I am aware of.)
Every month’s box fits a particular theme. This month’s theme was “Modern Cinderella.”
(There are no listed price values for each item, so I had to do some searching and guessing.)
Book: Cinderella.Com: A Modern Day Cinderella Story by River Laurent – Value $12.49 on Amazon.
(My thoughts on the book will be below in “The Verdict.”)
Princess slipper trinket box – Value $5?
This is cute, but I can tell the quality isn’t high. Still, so cute!
The Glass Slipper bubble salt from TwoWildHares – Value $6.75 (You can purchase this exact item from the TwoWildHares Etsy shop here!)
This is by far my favorite item in the box. I love bath items like this and this smells heavenly.
Stretchy “Have courage and be kind” book mark/planner keeper – Value $2?
I don’t personally like stretchy book marks because they bend my books. And I don’t like how this one is knotted instead of stitched together at the end. The knot just makes it seem cheap. I love the quote from the new Disney “Cinderella” movie, though!
Rock candy sucker – Value .50?
I always love a good sweet when I’m reading so this was exciting to receive. It literally tasted like nothing to me, though?? Sad, I know.
The Verdict: I love retellings of old classics, especially Disney movies. So the fact that the entire box was based on Cinderella was really exciting to me. I loved the general “feeling” of the box and how cute it was: all blue and white. So cute. I also loved the bath salts!
However, while LitCube doesn’t claim to be a YA-only book subscription, I thought the choice of sending out a New Adult, 18+ book was a bold choice. I can imagine that I’m not the only subscriber who is a little disappointed by the book choice. I will certainly be trying the book because I paid for it, dang it. But still. Also, while I loved the bath salts, I really don’t think this box lived up to its $34.95 value at all. By my estimation (since they don’t have the value for each item listed on the card), these items are worth about $26.75… As a subscriber: Ouch.
While opening a new book box is always so much fun, this one just didn’t leave me super happy.
Note: This box was paid for by me. Nothing free, unfortunately. So my opinions are definitely my own.
Chocolate and Chapters 
The only box I subscribe to is Colleen Hoover’s Bookworm Box and I’m not really familiar with the ins and outs of the others. Sorry to see this one didn’t make the grade but I’m looking forward to your reviews of some others.
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
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Tanya, do you like Colleen Hoover’s Bookworm Box? I was looking into hers, too, but got the impression that anyone can donate items/books and she’ll include them. So it’s not necessarily curated by her, the items are just put together in boxes by her? What have been your thoughts on it?
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This is going to sound like a wishy-washy answer, but here goes: I’ve subscribed to the Bookworm Boxes since they started 2 years ago. They always included 2 signed books + swag. And it was almost always two books that I was familiar with and probably already wanted. In the last 6 months or so it felt like there was one “good” book and one I didn’t know. Had never heard of the author, or the book, and honestly didn’t have much interest in. (Authors do donate their book so I guess in theory almost any romance author could donate copies for distribution.) I realize this could be viewed as an opportunity to discover new authors and maybe a new favorite book, but I also felt for the price ($39.99 + $7.99 shipping per month) I was no longer really getting the same quality I used to. But, I really had no plans to unsub because the $$ goes to charity and I could always share whatever books I didn’t want with others or do giveaways.
However, as of this month, The Bookworm Box had a revamp. They now send only 1 book per month (still signed) instead of 2, the “swag” has been upgraded (I received a yummy full-size scented candle in a jar), and the price has dropped to $32.99 a month (and that price *includes* shipping). A month or two ago I might have said I had lost a little of my enthusiasm for The Bookworm Box (even though I still had no immediate plans to quit it) but I’m excited about the changes they’ve made and I’m excited to see what books and swag come in the next few months.
Sorry for the novel-length comment, Rachel! LOL
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Don’t apologize, I really appreciate your thoughts on it! I’ve really wondered so it’s good to see a real subscriber’s opinion!
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I think I’ll try the Bookworm Box soon!
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I really like the idea of these book subscription boxes, but there seems to be so many out there I just don’t know which one I would choose! This one looks pretty cute, and I love the theme, but I agree it doesn’t seem to be worth the price tag. You never know though, the book could be really good!
I’m definitely interested to hear if you try out any other book subscription boxes! 🙂
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It’s honestly difficult to keep them all straight! I made a Google Doc and try to write down the name of each box I come across, but I know some have slipped through the cracks. I tried two different companies this month (SpearCraft and LitJoy) and I’ll be posting reviews in the next couple weeks. 🙂
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I love the theme And how they really matched everything to it, including the colors! I feel like a lot of the boxes I’ve seen don’t stick to themes very well. That’s smart to calculate the value though. It’s too bad this one didn’t do well in that regard.
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I know, the theme and colors totally made me smile. I loved that part of it. And yes, I’ve been turned off by some boxes that feel like random things from different fandoms are just thrown in. I don’t like that at all. I want a theme that is stuck to closely, you know?
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This lit cube looks like so much fun. I have’t ever bought a subscription box but they look amazing.
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I hope you love it if you try one!
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